Unforgivable Love
by katmiester
Summary: Everyone knows Harry and Ginny are perfect for each other, and they finally figure it out themselves. Can they keep it together when danger (and Voldie!) threaten to tear them apart? How similar are they to Lily and James? Extreme fluffie-ness ensues!
1. Default Chapter

  
UNFORGIVABLE LOVE

Chapter 1: Beginnings

****

**A/N: Hi! Welcome to my story. I'm really excited because this is my very first chapter of my very first fanfic!!! Please read this and review. I hope you enjoy it! Oh, yeah, and a special thanks to my best friends, Kathleen and Chelsea! Without them this story wouldn't be possible! **

**  
Disclaimer: I don't own anything, of course. A bunch of this is JK's (some people get all the luck), and only the storyline belongs to me, and my original characters, so please don't sue me! (It's not like you'd get much anyway...)**

Seventeen-year-old Harry Potter stomped on the lid of his trunk until it closed with a soft _'click'_. "Alright, Ron," the 7th year said, "I'm ready. You?"

"I will be," Ron grunted, trying to catch his small, noisy white owl, Pig, as it zoomed around its owner's room, "as soon as I get this idiot bird in its cage!" After the ninth failed attempt, Ron turned to Harry, frustrated, "Could I have a little help, here?!"

Pig took another lap of the room, zooming right by Harry as he did so. The fit Quidditch player reflexively shot his arm into the air, grasping the struggling little bird in his hands and gently placing him in his cage. "Thanks, mate," Ron breathed, slapping Harry on the back.

"No problem," Harry replied, glancing at his watch. "C'mon, we need to get outta here."

"Yeah. Sure. Let's go." The two boys lifted their trunks off the ground and carried them down the stairs and set them down beside the breakfast table. A platter of eggs floated across the kitchen from the general direction of Mrs. Weasley, joining the hash browns, bacon, and sausage links already spread out across the table, and landed in front of Harry. Fred and George were seated across from Harry, having already loaded their plates, and each were currently shoving forkfuls of food into his mouth.

"'Arry, 'ou don have 'o wait 'or 'eryone else. Just eat!" George said, spraying eggs across the kitchen table.

"GROSS!" Ron exclaimed, wiping bits of egg off of himself while George and Fred laughed. Harry shrugged and loaded up his own plate.

"Hurry up and eat, boys," said Mr. Weasley from behind the _Daily Prophet_, "We need to leave to the train station soon." Harry and Ron ate even more ravenously then before, each shoveling food into his mouth at an amazing speed.

"Oh, Arthur," Mrs. Weasley said tearfully, "I wish you wouldn't just rush them all out the door like that. We won't get to see them again for nearly four months. We already said good-bye to Ginny two weeks ago when she went to see her friend." She dabbed at her eyes with her hanky as she gave each boy a hug on the way out the door.

"G'bye, Mum!" chorused Fred and George, sauntering out the door after Harry and Ron. Fred popped his head back in the door. "Oh, don't expect us back until late. We have some, er, _people _to see to after work."

Mr. Weasley, who was last, kissed his wife on the cheek on his way out, saying, "Be back at about seven, tonight, dear. Someone thought it'd be funny to bewitch handbags that bite and pass them around to Muggles..." The man was already lost in thought, and remained so until the taxi's arrival at the station. "See you in a couple of months," said Mr. Weasley, "Don't forget to write, and do _try_ not to get into _too_ much trouble."

Harry waved good-bye to Mr. Weasley and headed towards Platform 9 and 3/4, laden with his belongings. Ron sprinted about 30 yards, drawing funny looks from Muggles who were only to shocked to see a 6'5" seventeen-year-old red-head running as fast as he could toward a brick wall, pushing not only a trunk but also a broomstick and chaotic tennis-ball sized owl on a cart in front of him. Harry rolled his eyes, but followed his friend, disappearing into the brick wall and finding himself on the familiar platform where the crimson _Hogwarts Express_ awaited them.

Grinning, Harry and Ron stepped aboard the train and headed for their usual compartment. As soon as they stepped inside, two girls instantly rushed over to them. "Harry!" gushed a slender brunette excitedly, wrapping the muscular Quidditch player in a quick embrace. "How you doing, handsome?" she whispered in slightly deeper, more seductive voice.

It was true. Harry had long since out grown his scrawniness, and now was one of the best-looking guys at Hogwarts. His green eyes shone brightly, his knees were no longer knobbly. Harry had grown into himself, and his constant practice of Quidditch, a quite demanding sport, had left muscular him looking quite fit.

He grinned, knowing Lavender's question had been purely rhetorical. "So, how was Paris?" he asked her, taking a seat. Lavender sat down next to him and began recounting her holiday in France.

Parvati and Ron had wasted no time on polite conversation, and were snogging heavily on the other side of compartment. Hermione slid open the compartment door. "RONALD WEASLEY!" she exclaimed. "YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE INSTRUCTING THE NEW PREFECTS!!!! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?"

Through the open door Harry caught sight of Ginny Weasley, Ron's younger sister. 'Merlin, she looks good.' He thought to himself, eyeing the petite red head as she laughed and joked with her friends. A blond boy put his arm around her, and for a moment Harry felt like socking the guy. Ginny shrugged off the boy's arm, though, and, smiling, made a brief eye contact with Harry before the compartment door started to slide shut.

"Hey, Gin, what was _that_ all about?" asked Renee, Ginny's best friend.

"What was what all about?"

"Harry, he looked at you all dreamily, and you gave him this yearning look. You said you were way over him."

"I am," Ginny said, shrugging her shoulders. She grinned and then added, "Besides, he's my brother's best friend!"

"Sure. Whatever." Renee wasn't about to believe her friend. She knew Ginny fancied Harry very much, and had since she first saw him seven years before, at King's Cross when Harry boarded the express for the first time.

A tall, blond boy on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team wrapped his arm around Ginny's shoulder, pulling her close to him. "Kevin!" Ginny exclaimed, clearly exasperated with the boy seated next to her, and shrugging his arm off of her shoulders. "Stop it! I already told you, I'm really not into this."

"Fine. Be like that." He replied, hiding how much he was offended. Ginny's friends pretended not to know what was going on, changing the subject abruptly.

"So, anybody else taking Arithmancy again this year?" Asked Kayla Ranson, another close friend of Ginny's. Ginny smiled her thanks at the diversion.

"I've got no choice," Renee answered, "I can't just start a new subject. But NEWT level Arithmancy..." The dark haired girl trailed off, shuddering at the thought of the difficult subject.

"Get out of here, Kevin," Kayla told the only boy in the room, who hadn't yet caught a clue. "We need to change into our robes. We're getting pretty close."

Kevin shrugged and left the compartment, looking a bit hurt. "See you guys later," he said, looking back.

"Thanks be to Merlin!" Ginny breathed, as soon as Kevin was out of earshot. "A bit of peace! I wish he would just leave me alone!"

"Why?" Kayla asked playfully. "So you could continue daydreaming about a certain seventh year? You know the one that I'm talking about... Green eyes, messy hair a lightening scar. Can't miss him..."

"No!" said Ginny. Her face betrayed her. She couldn't keep the smile at the thought of Harry off of her face, and she turned a fiery red as she denied her feelings.

"Yeah, sure," Renee said sarcastically. "Why would you like Harry, right? I mean, he's the Quidditch Captain, muscular, tall, not to mention-"

"Totally taken by Lavender!" Ginny interjected, probably a bit too loudly.

"Only temporarily..." said Kayla mischievously.

"Kaye, don't you dare. I don't want anymore contact with Harry than I already do."

"Sure you do! I can tell from the look on your face!" Renee said, causing Ginny to turn even redder than she already was, if that was even possible.

"So maybe I do? What does it matter?" Ginny said quickly, for once telling the truth about how she felt. "He's going to be gone next year, most likely engaged to Lavender or something..." Ginny trailed off. She didn't need to say anything else. Her two best friends went from teasing to sympathetic.

"Don't worry about it, Gin. If he doesn't see that you're great, he's not worth it anyway. Besides, would you really want to date The Boy Who Lived?"

"Yes! And don't call him that. He hates it."

"You, Ginny," Kaye told her friend, "have an obsessive infatuation with Harry Potter."

"Sad, but true," Renee agreed, then whispered to Kayla while Ginny was changing into her robes, "But, Kaye, we need to do something. You have to admit, they are perfect for each other."

"I know," Kayla said, "But first we need to talk to Hermione. She'll know what we need to do, she knows both Harry and Ginny really well. We could make things even worse if we just charge into the next compartment and announce to Harry Ginny's undying love or something."

Renee laughed. "Oh, I know. I wouldn't."

Harry climbed up the stairs to the boy's dormitories from the common room for the first time that year. His trunk, as was customary, was waiting for him at the foot of his bed, and Hedwig was no doubt quite happy roosting in the Hogwarts owlery. The wiry Seeker quickly changed into his pajamas and sunk into his four-poster bed, not even bothering to draw the curtains.

Normally sleep came swiftly on the first night at Hogwarts, but tonight sleep didn't come. Harry found himself thinking about Ginny Weasley, and what the smile on the train meant. Why had he been so happy to see her? Why did her appearance suddenly strike him so? He was dating Lavender, widely considered to be the most sought after and gorgeous girl in the 7th year! Why was he so worried about Ginny, his best friend's little sister, so much? His thoughts drifted from Ginny, briefly to Lavender, and then back to Ginny before he finally fell asleep.

**A/N: I know this chapter is short and starts out kind of slow, but I promise the next chapter will be better and more stuff will happen. Like I said before, this is my first chapter of my first fanfic, so it would mean a lot to me if you would review it and continue reading. Trust me, it'll be pretty good. I already have most of it planned out, so I'll be able to update fairly often. **


	2. Annual Rejection

Unforgivable Love  
  
Chapter 2: Annual Rejection  
  
A/N: First of all, I would like to apologize to my readers (if I even have any yet...) for taking so long to update. You'll see within the first two paragraphs why it took so long: I decided to go in a different direction. From now on, every other chapter will be Lily and James. I'm living on a three-week trip to Europe tomorrow, so there will probably not be any updates for a couple of weeks. However, I do plan on writing a lot on the plane (it's a 17-hour flight from the west coast to England! It's insane! And then I have the plane ride to Venice...) Anyway, I'll probably be nearly finished with Unforgivable Love by the time I get back, so updates will be pretty regular after I return. Anyway, here we go...  
  
Students weren't expected to arrive at Platform 9 ¾ for about another ten minutes, but Lily Evans always made a point to avoid being late to anything. So, characteristically, she had been waiting just outside the barrier, along with a handful of other students, generally the same ones as during the previous several years. Minutes later, much to Lily's chagrin, a group of four familiar boys strode- actually, Lily thought to herself, 'strutted' better describe it- towards her, two of whom were grinning mischievously.  
  
Great, Lily thought, Just great. She made an attempt to squeeze through the barrier to avoid the teens that were rapidly approaching, knowing even before she started that the attempt would be futile. The barrier wouldn't open for another four minutes, leaving her stranded to her own means as far as the unwanted additional company was concerned.  
  
James briefly scanned the area surrounding the barrier leading to Platform 9 ¾, eyes landing on the familiar red haired girl that he had been trying to make his girlfriend since he had first laid eyes on her on their very first trip on the Hogwarts Express. Nodding to his friends, who simply rolled their eyes, James sauntered over to Lily, running his hand through his hair, serving only to further dishevel the already messy hair as he exhaled deeply. He leaned against the barrier casually, gaze captivated by the seventeen year old girl in front of him. "Would you go out with me Lily?" he asked, receiving an angry glare in reply. "Come on, Lily!" he cried, pouting a little.  
  
"Can't you act just a little bit more mature?" Lily asked exasperatedly, "It won't kill you!"  
  
"Oh, Lily darling, you wound me!" he cried dramatically, clutching his heart. Suddenly the well known playboy came over to the two, throwing one arm around James' shoulders.  
  
"So, rejected by Lily yet again, Prongsie?" The cocky smile of Sirius Black charmed many of the girls at Hogwarts, but it didn't affect Lily in the least when it appeared upon his face at that moment.  
  
James still looked grim. Lily knew that James would get over it eventually, though, he did every year. For some reason James always seemed to be bothered the most when she rejected him at the beginning of the year, even more so this year than any previous, then whenever she had the same answer to the same question the many, many times he asked during the year. As if somehow she had miraculously changed her mind about him and would allow him to sweep him off of her feet instead of simply trying to avoid him. "Yeah," he started to answer, before the barrier he was leaning upon suddenly opened, and he toppled inside, Sirius collapsing on him seconds later.  
  
Remus was laughing when he appeared through the barrier, holding not only his trunk but the ones belonging to the two fallen boys as well. He tossed the two extra trunks towards the respective boys, shaking his head. "You guys never fail to amuse us. See you in our regular compartment," he called over his shoulder as he boarded the scarlet steam engine. Peter tripped after him, struggling to keep up as he made his way clumsily around James and Sirius.  
  
"Thanks Remus!" James called after his friend, much louder than was needed, as he rose to his feet.  
  
"Yeah, we really appreciate all the help!" Sirius added, yelling even louder than his black-haired, hazel-eyed cohort, dusting himself off.  
  
James frowned as Lily passed him, sparing him no more attention than a skeptical glance, eyebrows raised. "Pathetic," she muttered under her breath as she handed her trunk off to the muscular assistants.  
  
James followed suite. "See you in a bit, Padfoot. I got Head Boy duty."  
  
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Sirius said, waving his friend off. "I still can't believe they picked you! I mean, of all people!"  
  
James made an immature face as he looked over his shoulder at Sirius before heading towards the large Prefects' compartment.  
  
"WHERE, in the name of Merlin, is the Head Boy?!" Lily exclaimed, just as James slid open the compartment door.  
  
"Right here, Lily, darling," James smiled at her. He made a show of looking around the compartment, which was several times the size of the regular one, before saying, "Wow, nice place you have here, Lils."  
  
"Oh, that's rich, Potter," Lily said, rolling her eyes, "You, as Head Boy. That's a laugh. I'm sure that you must serve another purpose than simply existing to amuse us with you hilarity," she continued sarcastically, "so how about you just release the Head Boy so we can get this meeting over with, hmmm?"  
  
"No, really," James said, staring the redhead in the eye. "Hate to rain on your parade, Lily-flower, but I am the Head Boy."  
  
"Potter, I'm warning you once. Just undo the hex, or whatever you've put on him, and let him come in."  
  
James reached into the depths of his black Hogwarts robes, producing a gold pin. He held the badge out for Lily to inspect, smiling conceitedly. Lily's face fell. "You have GOT to be kidding me!"  
  
"Nope." James pinned the Head Boy badge onto the front of his robe, turning to face the Prefects. "Now let's do this thingy. I don't want to waste too much of my time in here."  
  
"Before we continue with tonight's feast," Dumbledore announced in his annual welcome speech to the Hogwarts students, "I would like to welcome you all back to Hogwarts School of Witch Craft and Wizardry, especially the newly-Sorted first years." A round of applause erupted before the Headmaster continued, "And I would like to congratulate this year's Head Boy, James Potter, and Head Girl, Lily Evans." More applause as the two rose from their seats at the Gryffindor for the brief customary acknowledgment. "It is also my duty to remind you that the Forbidden Forest, like every year, is strictly off-limits."  
  
His twinkling blue eyes landed on the four Marauders before he continued. "Oh yes, and our newest member of the faculty, Mr. Filch, would like me to tell you that you can receive an extensive list of contraband materials and objects in his office.  
  
One last thing: This year, a new activity will take place. In honor of Hogwarts' 411th year in the business of fine education, a Halloween Masquerade Ball will be taking place. More information on this Ball will follow for the fourth through seventh years, the only years invited."  
  
First, second, and third years alike groaned in unison before the grand feast appeared on shining golden platters at the snap of Dumbledore's fingers. "Tuck in!" He announced grandly, taking his own seat and dishing up. A good hour passed before any of the four Marauders were willing to stop shoveling his face with food to say anything.  
  
"So, Sirius, who do you reckon you'll be asking to the Masquerade?" Peter asked between forkfuls of prime rib.  
  
"Good question, Wormy," Sirius said thoughtfully, stuffing his mouth with another rather large bite of turkey. "I guess I'll just do what I do for every Valentine's Day."  
  
"What would that be, again?" James asked after he had swallowed what appeared to be about half of a baked potato.  
  
Sirius gaped incredulously at him for a moment, as if James at just asked what color the sky was. "I read through the letters I receive, and I sort the ten that seem the most desperate-"  
  
"Actually, Petey, sane was no longer a requirement as of- wait, was it fourth or fifth year?" Sirius looked thoughtful for a moment, the bit of meat stabbed onto his fork temporarily forgotten. "Oh, well, doesn't matter. But after a couple of years the sanity thing just got rather dull."  
  
"Interesting," Remus replied, half-sarcastically, half pathetically serious, pouring himself another goblet of Pumpkin Juice. "I didn't realize you could get such a combination of sanity and desperation out of girls who have an obsessive infatuation." Sirius looked flattered at what he considered to be a compliment coming from Remus.  
  
"Yes. It is possible. But that was another problem. I began to run out of sane, desperate girls. Who of course also had to be fairly attractive....Anyways, I'm probably going to take the most desperate and just pick two or three randomly to escort to the ball."  
  
"Be that as it may, if any of you geniuses paused long enough to think, you would realize that you don't even need a date to attend a Masquerade. In fact, it would consider being of finest taste to just show up and dance with whoever strikes your fancy, that's the point. Then, you find out who everyone is near the end, generally around midnight, during the un-masking. Up until then, everyone's identity is intended to remain a secret, as the masks tend to hide the identity of the person."  
  
Sirius grinned and lit up, looking as if Christmas had just come early. "Really? You mean it's a free-for-all?! I don't have to commit myself to any of them?"  
  
James glanced down the table at a particular fiery redhead, catching Remus' eye before looking back down at his plate, a smile playing at his lips.  
  
A/N: So what did you think? I haven't come across a fanfic quite like this alternating Lily/James-Harry/Ginny thing, so it should be pretty interesting, if I do say so myself...Feel free to review and let me know what you think, or if you have any suggestions. Oh, and my other chapters will most likely be longer, this is just my first Lily/James chapter, so I just wanted to see how it would work out. Also, part of this was inspired by Suns Golden Ray's stories (part of the dialogue with Sirius), though I changed it quite a bit. So, until next time... 


End file.
